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Host rating
80 %
Last replied
20 Aug 2025
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Description
I am a 44 year old man from Zagreb living in a remote area surrounded by mountains. I have a beautiful eleven year old daughter who is spending lot's of her time with me.
We have expanded community of our family, friends, neighbors, acquaintances and supporters. Trying to live up to BuddhaDharma, to one another, in harmony with nature and the world around us. Ten years ago I moved from the capital city to the end of a small village in mountain area of Lika, where I live simple and modest, between nature and civilization.
Our village, Janja Gora, is located in the north Lika, in the green Plaški valley, surrounded by forest, situated between National Park Plitvice lakes, town Ogulin, many hills and Kapela mountain. We try to live a balanced, healthy and happy way of life. On our farm we do gardening, studying and picking wild edible and medicinal plants, reading and writing poetry, study theory and do the practice of nonviolent/compassionate communication, cultivate the mind through contemplation and development of good heart through prayer.
We believe, above all in love. That's why we're together. That's why we do what we do and how we do it. We try to live free from suffering and help others to be free from suffering. We realized that only together we can walk that path. The community can not do without the individual, and an individual can not do without the community. Health, happiness and abundance are the basic conditions for developing peace, understanding and love, qualities that constitute inner freedom.
We try to live up to these values
Our small and intimate hermitage is open for volunteers.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Art Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
House sitting
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Travellers can learn about culture and tradition of our country which includes our language, traditional food, herbs and natural medicine, Croatian breed of dogs, the way of living in our local community, and other parts of Croatian tradition and customs.
This is a place one can get to know Buddhist philosophy, practice (meditation, chanting, compassionate communication etc.), culture (tea ceremony, music, poetry etc.) and customs (prayers, special days of observance and so on).
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
We would love to host volunteers who share similar values and who would support our tiny community by helping us with maintenance of the farm, houses and care about our animals.
The help that is needed is to care about the animals on the farm: horse, two dogs, a cat, chickens. It would be of great help if the volunteer has experience with building with wood or similar work. The barn needs repairing. Housework is also greatly appreciated, like cleaning, tidying, washing dishes, cooking, washing laundry. The woods need to be prepared for the winter. Twice a month I am away from the farm for 4 days so the volunteer has to manage being alone.
We need responsible, experienced and mindful volunteers who can do tasks independently and thoroughly. If you are coming by yourself it is needed that you can enjoy solitude as much as being in company of others. Coming as a couple is welcomed as well. We like both being with each other as well as giving each others space and time for being with ourselves.
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Croatian: Fluent
Accommodation
Accomodation is in our guest house.
Our dogs and cats are living completely outdoor. The dogs are big but gentle, the cat is nice too. The child is open, curious, playful and talkative. The food we prepare is mostly vegetarian.
We go early to bed. I am a non-smoker and I do not indulge in alcohol or drugs although I sometimes drink some fine wine during lunch or dinner or have a craft beer from time to time. I try to keep our living spaces neat and clean, but living on a farm like this with the animals, child, in an unfinished house, heating on woods, coming in from the mud outside and all that jazz, it is messy, to be honest.
From three sides we are surrounded by forest, and on the fourth side is the village. The closest neighbor is around 100 m from our house and he lives there only occasionally. Other neighbor's are a couple of kilometers down the road. Our house is the very last in the village. There is a house order which is expected to be observed (the time when we wake up and start our day, the time the lights go out in the evening, no drugs or alcohol abuse, no smoking etc.) Silence is appreciated. The food is mostly vegetarian. An eleven year old girl spends a lot of time here. We are easy going, in artistic spirit but we observe some rules and apply Buddhist philosophy in every day life. It is a great place if you are a contemplative who appreciates silence, love nature, natural living, horses, children, poetry, tea culture and good food.
What else ...
We are open for the creative expression of volunteers and to learn skills from them. They are encouraged to share with us their talents and passions.
One can enjoy beautiful nature here and spend their time alone in silence if he/she wants or share the company with some of us. Once a week we go to a picnic in the surrounding. There are rivers not far and springs near by.
The neighbours here are friendly, native farmers and people who came to live here from the city. Our village is quite unique with two three atteliers, a yoga teacher, a top chef, a high judge, an ayurvedic doctor, a herbalist, beekeppers, and so on.
I have a car. There are no bus lines or taxi in this area, but there is a railway, and a connection with Zagreb, Split, Rijeka and Ogulin. The railway station is about 15 minutes ride by car from our house. The distance to both Zagreb and Rijeka is about 150 km (1.5 h by car), Ogulin and Plitvice lakes are about 40 km (40 min. by car), Senj (on the coast) is on about 100 km (1 h by car), Zadar is 200 km distance (2 h by car).
This is a mountain area of Croatia so the climate is colder than the continental. The night are quite chilly even in the summer. Nature is beautiful out here. There is no any factory or other significant pollutants anywhere near. Population rate here is the lowest in Croatia.
There are couple of beautiful rivers, each 45 minutes drive from our village. They are not warm but we do swim in them when it's hot outside. At about the same distance is the National Park Plitvice Lakes which is a nature's masterpiece! It get's pretty crowded by turists in summer so if you mind that then it's better to visit it in spring or autumn. The entrance fee is about 20 euros. Apart from that there is also a forest nature reservate even closer to our place in which one would more likely see an wild animal that a human. You can explore the wildlife as this is one of the wildest areas in Europe (with bears, wild boars, wolfes, foxes, birds of prey, wild cats). Plenty of small springs and streams enrich our area as well and are worth visiting.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Space for parking camper vans
This host can provide space for campervans.
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
My animals / pets
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Davor is a… read more
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Davor is a… read more
Don't be surprised by the above statement. You have to see and experience it yourself. After meeting everyone, including the volunteers, you will feel welcomed and feel blessed to be surrounded by nature. There won't be any wi-fi, so it is a perfect place for you to just get… read more
